Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin claims responsibility for Malaysia's seemingly poor performance in the recently concluded 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland after the country only garnered six gold medals.
"Firstly I'd like to admit that we have failed. I don't need to give any other comments or excuses. When the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) announced a target of seven gold medals but we only achieved six, that's a failure.
"I don't need to say 'we almost achieved our goal' or 'our athletes did good, we just didn't win'. A failure is a failure," he said in his Facebook page.
"I also don’t want to point fingers. I'm the minister and even though I didn't compete, I must take responsibility as all of our athletes, sports councils and organisations are under me. I apologise to the rakyat for our failure in Glasgow," he said.
Khairy said a post-mortem would be conducted soonest and it would not be limited to the performance in Glasgow alone but for the past four years.
Tough decisions must be made, he said. Associations, officials, coaches or athletes who have been under-performing must give way to newcomers, for example.
"These are basic things that must be rectified before we look ahead in raising the country's overall sports status."
Khairy said another matter which requires urgent attention is the preparation for the 2014 Asian Games that will start next month.
"After what happened in Glasgow, choice of athletes must be done with utmost care. We need to send only those whom we believe can truly win. We should not be sending athletes merely for exposure purposes, it'd be a waste of money. I will seek other platforms to expose such athletes, no need to do it at the Asian Games," he said.
He added, he has been receiving tonnes of comments by Malaysian sports enthusiasts over the last couple of days and he took all of them in in good faith.
"Firstly I'd like to admit that we have failed. I don't need to give any other comments or excuses. When the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) announced a target of seven gold medals but we only achieved six, that's a failure.
"I don't need to say 'we almost achieved our goal' or 'our athletes did good, we just didn't win'. A failure is a failure," he said in his Facebook page.
"I also don’t want to point fingers. I'm the minister and even though I didn't compete, I must take responsibility as all of our athletes, sports councils and organisations are under me. I apologise to the rakyat for our failure in Glasgow," he said.
Khairy said a post-mortem would be conducted soonest and it would not be limited to the performance in Glasgow alone but for the past four years.
Tough decisions must be made, he said. Associations, officials, coaches or athletes who have been under-performing must give way to newcomers, for example.
"These are basic things that must be rectified before we look ahead in raising the country's overall sports status."
Khairy said another matter which requires urgent attention is the preparation for the 2014 Asian Games that will start next month.
"After what happened in Glasgow, choice of athletes must be done with utmost care. We need to send only those whom we believe can truly win. We should not be sending athletes merely for exposure purposes, it'd be a waste of money. I will seek other platforms to expose such athletes, no need to do it at the Asian Games," he said.
He added, he has been receiving tonnes of comments by Malaysian sports enthusiasts over the last couple of days and he took all of them in in good faith.
Men's badminton doubles players Tan Wee Keong (left) and Goh Wei Shem celebrate their gold medal after defeating Singapore.
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